Presser-foot-lifting mechanism for sewing-machines.



F. W. MERRlCK. PRESSER FOOT LIFTING MEQHANISM FOR SEWiNG MACHINES.

Patented July I8, 1899.

(Application filed In. 16, 1596.

3 Sheats8heet I.

(No Model.)

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No. 629,!08. Patented July I8, 8899.

F. w. msnmcx. PRESSER FOOT LIFTING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES.

(Application filed In. 16, X396! 3 Sheets-Sheet 2. I

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,F. w. msnmcx. PRESSER FOOT LIFTING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES.

(Application filed In. 16, 1896.) 3 She9tsSh aet 3.

" tion.

.ing had therein to the accompanying draw- No. 582,792, granted May18,1897.

' UNITED STA ES.

PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK l/V. MERRIOK, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

PRESSER-FOOT-LIFTlNG MECHANlSM FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Pass No. 629,108, clated il'uly18, 1899.

Application filed March 16, 1396.

To ctZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANK W. MERRIOK, a citizen of the United States,residing at Boston, in the county of Suftolk and State of Massachusetts,have invented certain new and useful Improvements inPresser-Foot-Lifting Mechanism for Sewing-Machines, of which thefollowing is a specification, reference beings.

My invention has for its object to provide a presser-foot-liftingmechanism for-sewingmachines which shall operate automatically to raisethe presser-foot.

My present invention 1s an improvement on that shown and described in myPatent The construction and operation of a device embodying my inventionis fully set forth'in the following description, and'the novel fea--turcs thereof are pointed out and clearlyde-1 fined in the claims atthevend of this specifi cation. y 1

In the accompanying drawings,to which particular reference ishereinafter made, Figurev '1 is a view in elevation representing thehead of a sewing-machine with my'invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is anend'view of the parts shown in Fig. 1 from the right of the latterfigure. Figs. 3 and 4 are views showing the clamping devices in detail.Figs. 5, 6, and 7 are perspective views of themovable sleeve or bearingfor the presser'-bar,the clamping-block, and the threaded collartor nut,respectively.

At 1 is represented the head of a sewingmachine; at 2, the awl-bar; at3, the. awl carried by the said awl-bar at i, the presser-- foot, and at5 the presser-bar. The machine is provided, preferably, with the usuallever operated by the foot for lifting the presserfoot and presser-foarwhen desired, and also with the usual hand-operated lever, by which theoperator is enabled to raise the presserfoot by hand when desired. Theseparts l have not deemed it necessary to show, as they may be of anyusual or preferred construc- In like manner the awl-bar is operated.

in any well-known or suitable manner.

At 9 is a sleeve whichsurroundsthe upper end of the presser-bar 5, thesaid sleeve being fitted to a bearing provided therefor in Serial a.583,475. on model.)

the upper part of the head 1 and being free to slideup and down in suchhearing. The

upper extremity of the presser-bar extends above the upper end of thesaid sleeve and is borne upon by the-free end of a leaf-spring 10, whichlatter is secured to the arm of the machine, as will be'clear fromFig. 1. The said spring 10 acts to hold the presser-foot 4: normallypressed upon the upper surface of the work. A second leaf-spring 11 issecured by means of a screw 12 or equivalent device to the under side ofthespring 10. The free end of the said spring 11 bears upon the upperend of the sleeve 9 and tends to force the sleeve downwardly into itslowest position. The pressure exerted by said spring upon the sleeve isadjusted by means of screw 111, applied to spring 10. The upper end ofthe sleeve 9 is screw-threaded and has applied thereto-the adjusting-nut13, above which is the .lock nutl l. A washer 15, preferably ofsound-deadening material, is placed upon the said upper end ofth'esleeve-Q below the adjusting-nut 13,Ithe said washer lying upon thetop of the head 1. .By means of the adjusting-nut 13 the verticalposition of the sleeve 9 may be varied', as will be obvious.In-practiee, however, it is not usuallyznec'essary to effect a change inthe vertical posi tion of the said sleeve 9 by means of the saidadjusting-nut 13. The sleeve 9 isformed as shown, Figs. 3 and 5, itbeing provided with an offset portion 16, which serves to connecttheupper portion of the sleeve 9 with the small lower portion 17.Between the portionsl'? and 9 and opposite the oifset portion 16 thesleeve is cut away, and there is a vertical slot 171-in the offsetportion, as will be clear from'Fig. 5. In the opening thus formed bycutting away the sleeve I place a clamping-block 18, which has avertical cylindrical hole 181 therethrough, in which is fitted a nut orcollar 19, said nut or collar being interiorly screw-threaded tocorrespond with the screw-threads on the presser-bar 0r on that portionof said bar with whichlthe' nut or collar 19 cooperates; The saidscrewlthreads have a quick turn, andthe nut or col- 'lar 19 is free torevolve in the vertical hole or bearing therefor which is formed in theblock 18. If the sleeve 9 be held rigidly while the collar and bloclrare free, the presser-bar may independently.

For the purpose of preventing the sleeve 9 and the clamping-block 18from rotating 011 the presserbar the clamping-block 18 is formed with avertical groove 201, corresponding in position with the vertical slot171 in the said offset portion 16 of the sleeve 9. The slot in the saidoffset portion and the groove in the said block receive the awl-bar 2,as will be clear from Figs. 3 and 4E, and the said awlbar serves as aguide for the sleeve 9 and clamping-block 18 in their vertical movementto prevent their rotating relatively to the said presser-bar. For thepurpose of clamping the collar 19 rigidly onto the presser-bar I formthe clamping-blocklS slightly beveling on its upper surface, as shown at21, Fig. 3, so that said clamping-block may be tilted slightlyrelatively to the sleeve 9. A very slight tilting of the clamping-block18 serves to clamp the threaded collar 19 and prevent the collar fromrotating. If,.now, the clamping-block be lifted, the presser-bar,collar, and sleeve will move upwardly with it. For the purpose oftilting the clamping-block, as also of lifting it vertically, the saidblock is provided with a projection or tailpiece 22, with which the freeend of the bent arm 23 engages.

For the purpose of operating the lif tin g-arm 23 I secure it rigidly toa rock-shaft 25, which is journaled in the frame of the machine, asshown, and which is rocked by means of an eccentric 26 on the main shaft27. The strap 28 of the eccentric is pivoted to an arm 29, which issecured to the rock-shaft 25 at the opposite end of the said rock-shaftfrom that at which the lifting-arm 23 is secured. (See Fig. 1.) Theseparts are of well-known construction and do not require a detaileddescription. As is well known, they may be adjusted to vary the throw ofthe arm 23 or the time of its movement.

As grooving attachments and similar devices are frequently employed in.machines to which my invention is applicable and are arranged to workslightly above the surface of the work-support or work-plate, provisionshould be made for preventing the presserfoot from being forceddownwardly onto these devices or onto the Work-plate when there is nowork in the machine. To provide for limiting the descent ofthepresser-foot, I employ a block 00, which is provided with a hole,through which the presser-bar passes and which is split at one side andprovided with laterally-extending lugs 31 32, through which the threadedend of a bolt 33 is screwed. The shank of the bolt 33 projects through ablock 50, set to slide in a vertical slot in the front Of the head ofthe machine. The split block gripped and prevented from rotating.

30 and its clamping-bolt 33 are so set on the prcsser-bar that at thelowest position of the presser-bar and presser-foot the block 50 willbottom in the slot 34, and it will be clear that in this way the lowestpoint to which the presser-foot may descend may be governed. To preventnoise, the bottom of the slot 3%, with which the block 50 engages, maybe provided with a layer or piece 501 of sounddeadening material, asleather or the like.

The operation of the device is as follows: lVhen work is placed in themachine, the presser-foot may be raised either by means of the usualfoot-operated lifting mechanism or by hand-operated lifting mechanism.The work being in place, the presser-foot is released and by means ofthe spring 10 is forced downwardly onto the upper surface of the workand bears thereon, holding the work firmly until in the movement of themachine the work is to be fed forward. Just before operated by means ofthe rock-shaft 25 and its operating mechanism, and when it en-.

gages the tailpiece 22 the threaded collar is This locks the sleeve 9and presser-bar 5 together.

'The further lifting movement of the arm 23 raises the sleeve and bartogether and lifts the presser-foot from the work, so'that it is free tobe fed forward. At the end of the feed movement the liftingarm 23 movesdownwardly, freeing the clamping device and allowing the spring 10 toforce the presserbar and presser-foot downwardly onto the work. At thesame time the spring 11 acts to force the sleeve 9 downwardly, returningsaid sleeve to its lowest position. If the presser-foot upon its descentmeets a thickerportion of the work, the descent of the presserbar willbe less, but the descent of the sleeve 9 will be the same, regardless ofthe thickness of the work, so that the action of the sleeve is the sameunder all conditions of stock. Since the bar is locked to the sleevebefore the latter is lifted, the upward movement or lift of the bar andsleeve must be equal at all times. The sleeve 9, as will be obvious, maybe shortened somewhat without departing from the spirit of theinvention, forming what might more properly be designated as a collar,or it may be made in the form of two collars separated from each otherand rigidly connected. It is to be noted likewise that the function ofthe sleeve 9 as a bearing is not essential to the operation of mydevice, although, as previously described, it is important indistributing the lateral strain which occurs during the liftingoperation and in relieving the presser-bar from that lateral strain. Thefunction of the sleeve or collar 9 as an adjustable connectionintermediate the adjusting-nut 13 and the lifting-arm I consider ofgreater importance than its function as a bearing.

IOO

IIO

It will be noted that by the employment of foot are lifted upwardly apredetermined distance which is uniform whether the Work be thick orthin. It willalso be noted that the clamping and lifting of theresser-bar is effected smoothly without jar or shock and that alllateral strain and consequent friction is removed from the presser-barin the operation of clampingand lifting it and is borne by thevertically-movable bearing or sleeve 9, which onaccount of its largebearing-surface reduces -the effect of the lateral pressu-r to aminimum.

What I claim is I 1. The combination with the presser-foot and thepresser-bar of a sewing-machine, the

said presser-bar being threaded throughout a portion of its length, of athreaded collar revoluble on said bar, a clamping and lifting 1e verengaging said collar and means to actuate said lever to turn it againstsaid collar so as to clamp the latter and raise it and the presser barby part of the movement which is communicated to the lever,substantially as'described.

2. The combination with the resser-foot and the presser-bar of asewing-machine, the

and resser-bar of a sewing-machine, the said presser-bar being threadedthroughout a portion of its length, of a movable bearing for the saidpresser-bar, means to adjust the poseams v s sition of said movablebearing vertically, a

' tion of its length, of a movable bearing for the said resser-bar, aleaf-spring engaging the presser-bar to press it downwardly toward thework, a leaf-springengaging the said movable bearing to press itdownwardly to its lowest position, a threaded collar on saidpresser-bar, a clamping-lever engaging the said collar and said bearingand means to ac-.

tuate said lever to clamp the collar and raise the bearing andpresser-bar in unison through part of themovement which is communicatedto the lever, substantially as described.

5. The combination with the presser-foot and presser bar of asewing-machine, said bar of the latter vertically, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presenceof two witnesses.

FRANK WJMERRIO \Vitnesses WM. A. MAoLEon, A. HARRISON.

